


Fight to the Finish

by EmperorNorton150



Series: Catra's Coup [4]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25045180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorNorton150/pseuds/EmperorNorton150
Summary: Catra and Netossa decide to settle the Horde-Alliance War once and for all--through the medium of tabletop wargaming.
Relationships: Catra & Netossa (She-Ra)
Series: Catra's Coup [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805098
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49





	Fight to the Finish

_Horde forces swept out across the frontier on a wide front. Battalions of bots and troops stormed into Thaymor, Elberon, Erelandia, and the other border towns, seizing them quickly. Princess Alliance defenders fell back into the Whispering Woods, but the Horde did not follow, instead immediately entrenching and establishing a defensive perimeter around their new conquests. To the south, three squadrons of the Horde Armada approached Salineas and established a blockade. To the north, two Horde armored columns drove out of the Fright Zone and began to advance on Plumeria and the Fortress of the Pass, which commanded the entire northeastern highlands. Elsewhere—_

“Wait. I don’t understand” interjected Adora, who was peering over the table with a quizzical expression. “Why aren’t you attacking Bright Moon? The Horde _always_ attacks Bright Moon. That’s your whole thing!” Catra gave her an arch look.

“Hordak wouldn’t know a grand strategy if it bit him on the nose. Bright Moon only matters if it has an Alliance to command. What’s the use of a queen without subjects, hmm?” She added a little more sourly. “Also, the Whispering Wood gives a +25 defensive and a +10 attack bonus to any Princess Alliance units there. Which is ridiculous”. On the other side of the table, counting her resource cards and undeployed unit markers, Netossa smirked.

“What cat girl, complaining already? I guess this’ll be easier than I thought”.

“Oh, shut up and move, uhh, _net tossing_ , um, _lady_ ” growled the Generalissimo and supreme commander of the Horde, ruler of half of Etheria. 

The session of the Joint Strategy Council had been going so well, too. They turned to be smoother than meetings of the Inter-Etherian Committee for General Arbitration. There, the Horde and the various Etherian kingdoms of the Princess Alliance fought out their disputes with words and precedents and invocations of ancient treaties. Here, they tried to plan for the defense of their planet from the still-mysterious ‘Horde Prime’. The meetings weren’t always particularly successful, given how little information they had, but they were a lot less acrimonious. Netossa, especially, had formed a surprisingly good working relationship with Catra. From the first meeting, where a discussion about the possible utility of using sorcery to protect Etheria from extra-atmospheric attack turned into a forty-five minute argument about Catra’s first attempt to conquer Bright Moon and whether or not the long-term strategic advantages of freezing the Whispering Woods had been worth the cost in bots and troops necessary to tie down the Princesses, they’d discovered a shared competitive spirit, and the fact that they’d never actually met before this meant that they could approach things professionally. Usually. Today, it had started casually enough

“Hey, Your Excellency or whatever—what was your actual plan for beating us? You know, if you hadn’t given up?” Catra looked up from where she’d been correlating lists of Horde military assets with Alliance resources. She smirked at Netossa. 

“Don’t be silly princess. I may still have to _use_ that plan someday. Can’t go around giving up all my secrets, can I?”

“So you don’t have one. I always figured as much. Well, it’s a good thing we decided to take mercy on you—”

“Hey, watch your mouth. _I_ decided to bring peace to Etheria, for _my_ own reasons. I could’ve crushed your silly little Alliance any time I wanted to”.

“Oh yeah? Prove it!”

“Guys! Guys!” Bow rushed over from the other side of the room, where he’d been reviewing recruitment statistics. “Please don’t kill each other right now, ok? Maybe we should all just take a deep breath and calm down—”

“Don’t be silly, Bow. We’re not going to kill anyone” assured Netossa, patting the flustered archer/tech master/diplomat on the shoulder.

“We’re not?” muttered Catra, flexing her claws.

“No. We’re not. We’re going to settle this question like civilized people, using the civilized tool……of tabletop wargaming!”

“Oh dear, not again” was Spinnerella’s only comment. 

_The Princess Alliance’s greatest strength was in their elite princesses, a small force of powerful units who worked best together. But they were few in number, and the Horde was pushing forward everywhere. Their twin-pronged assault on Plumeria and the Fortress of the Pass created an impossible choice for Supreme Commander Netossa; if the Fortress fell, then the entire uplands would be vulnerable to occupation, but if Plumeria fell, then one of the Alliance’s integral kingdoms would be lost, with all the consequent damage to morale and affect on resources and troop strength. The Alliance saw the checkmate that Catra was attempting to put them in, and tried to do an end-run around it entirely. While Perfuma, Netossa, and Spinnerella fought rearguard actions against the Horde mechanized advance, trying to slow it down, the Royal Salinean Navy sallied out of the Sea Gate, and Frosta, supported by Bow and Glimmer, launched a major attack out of the Kingdom of Snows, throwing most of her army south against Castle Dryl. Seizing that would give the Alliance a major strongpoint in a position to threaten the Horde’s supply lines between the front and the Fright Zone._

_The naval battle initially went well for Netossa. A Horde dreadnaught was sunk by a lucky cannonade, and the magic of Salineas degraded the rest of the Armada’s performance, leading to the loss of several Horde destroyers and a light cruiser in return for only minor damage to the Royal Navy. Unfortunately, these initial victories made them overconfident. The Horde fleet turned north and retreated, and the Salineans gave chase. When they were out of range of the Pearl Runestone’s power, the Horde turned and counterattacked. The battle was fierce, but the two forces were still evenly-matched, with the Horde having an advantage in numbers and the Royal Navy an edge in training, morale, and magic. Two Salinean brigantines and a frigate were sank in return for a Horde armored cruiser. Then, a Salinean war galleon, the flagship of the fleet, spontaneously combusted._

“I _knew_ I shouldn’t have picked Sea Hawk as my naval commander” groused Netossa.

_With their command structure broken, the Salinean Royal Navy lost two more galleons and a frigate in short order before turning and fleeing back to Salineas. The Horde Armada pursued, and landed an amphibious assault group on the Iron Tooth Reefs, where they proceeded to establish a forward operating base. Horde naval patrols spread out, fully investing the City of Salineas and cutting its oceanic trade routes._

Catra smirked, adding a dozen new resource tokens to her stockpile and pushing forward another handful of warship markers. 

“Just like I’ve always said, control of the sea is the difference between victory and defeat”.

“You’ve never said that before!” objected Adora. “Catra, you can’t even swim.”

“That’s what so great about being Generalissimo. I don’t have to. I have _thousands_ of people who’s job it is to swim for me, whenever and wherever I so choose.” 

_Meanwhile, the Alliance advance out of the Northern mountains continued, pushing back the light screen of skirmishers that Catra had deployed to guard her flank. But the Horde moved quickly to respond, pulling a brigade out of the advance on Plumeria, adding two regiments of reserve troops from the Fright Zone, and sending them to meet Frosta’s attack head-on, commanded directly by Catra. The Horde leader was no match for Frosta or Glimmer in single combat but—_

_“WHAT?!”_ yowled Catra, shooting daggers at Bow. “That’s ridiculous! Give me that rulebook!” Wordlessly, he passed over the small pamphlet. Catra skimmed it, snarling. “These stats are absurd!” Bow sniffed haughtily.

“I have based these on a _highly_ accurate appraisal of everyone’s personal abilities based on first-hand observation and dedicated analysis. It’s not my fault you don’t like them”.

“Its bias is what it is. Systemic bias. Goes right to the top. And _stop_ smirking you stupid princess” she shot at Netossa. “This isn’t going to save you or your precious Alliance”.

“Stop talking and start walking, Your Oh-So Excellency. My troops will be Dryl within two, three turns.”

“We will _see_ about that….”

_The Horde leader was no match for Frosta or Glimmer in single combat, but neither princess could be everywhere at once, and fierce resistance from the Horde turned the rapid Alliance counterattack into a grinding advance through the mountains, bogging down two map tiles away from Dryl. The Alliance has reason to be confident now. The Horde can stop Dryl, but only by pulling troops away from it’s advances elsewhere. If it chooses to focus on its offense, then Dryl falls and cuts off most of the Horde’s army deep in Alliance territory. Victory, or at least an enviable strategic position, seems inevitable. But once again, Catra was thinking outside the box._

_The Horde played its diplomatic tokens very well—the Kingdom of the Hinterlands, the Barony of Condor, and the Kingdom of Skull Path all entered the war on the side of the Horde, giving Catra a flood of new resources and troops. Even worse for the Alliance, so did the Kingdom of Galacia, renouncing its peace treaty with the Kingdom of Snows. Frosta and most of her troops have to pull back to defend their castle from the treacherous assault. Dryl and the Horde supply lines are safe._

_With their diversionary attacks both knocked back, the Alliance is finally forced to make the choice they’ve been avoiding. Plumeria or the Pass? Supreme Commander Netossa chose the Fortress. Plumeria was abandoned to Horde occupation, and the Alliance forces fell back into the Fortress and prepared for a siege. Horde howitzers and bombardment cannons began shelling it, and Horde troops surrounded the citadel._

Catra _hmmmmed_ , deep in her throat, surveying the map from above. The situation was favorable overall. Salineas and the Snows were essentially out of the war, Plumeria was under her control, and the Alliance was falling back everywhere. And yet—

“Where’s She-Ra?” she snapped. Netossa looked smug.

“I dunno. Somewhere. Why, you worried?”

“No! Just curious”. Adora giggled from across the room.

“Aww, are you scared of me?” Netossa shook her head sadly.

“Don’t tease Her Excellency Adora. It’s no fun to face someone you know you can’t beat.”

“ _I can beat you stupid people whenever_ —! Oh, I’ll show you, I’ll show you _all_ ”. Catra growled and turned her attention back to the table.

_The war widened, gaining scope. Horde flyers raided Bright Moon and Mystacor, Princess Alliance guerillas raided Horde convoys near Elberon. Frosta defeated the Army of Galacia outside her castle, but was unable to prevent them from falling back and regrouping. The mountain war continued. Salineas was safe behind it’s Sea Gate, but Horde ships ruled the waves beyond it. The main Horde Army continued to besiege the Fortress of the Pass. The Alliance counterattack, when it comes, is right to where Catra expects it. Mystacoran sorcerers and Perfuma, leading a phalanx of Alliance troops to try and relieve the siege of the Fortress. Their attacks are devastating, and an entire Horde battalion is destroyed. But the Horde has troops and bots to spare. Catra brings up more reinforcements, fights them to a standstill, pushes them back. All magic runs out eventually. But as long as they’re fed hot iron and coal and sulfur, forges will keep pumping out tanks and armor and bots forever. Hordak was always too impatient, too obsessed with each skirmish. Catra understood the long game. Victory is all that matters. Three turns later, the Fortress falls and the Pass is open. Spinnerella stayed behind to hold off the Horde, fighting long enough to allow Netossa and most of the rest of the garrison to escape unharmed before she falls._

“Darling, did you just sacrifice me so that you could escape?” Spinnerella asked in a pained voice. Netossa kissed her cheek.

“Sorry love. I’ve got a _lot_ more attack points than you.” Spinnerella sighed. Catra just snickered.

_Horde mechanized columns fan out through the Pass and into the northeastern highlands, seizing the towns and villages scattered across the region. Resistance is minimal, and the remaining Alliance troops fall back. It only takes another two turns to push her forces to Seaworthy, which they lay siege to. Now Bright Moon has been totally cut off from the rest of the world. Alliance responses are increasingly pathetic. Their raiders and guerillas continue to snipe at the Horde defensive perimeter in the outskirts of the Whispering Woods. Netossa uses some diplomatic tokens to spark an uprising in the Crimson Waste. Salinean commerce raiders slip through Catra’s blockade and attack Horde shipping in the Sea of Sighs. Pinpricks and annoyances. Nothing more._

“Pinpricks and annoyances. Nothing more” Catra announced. Netossa raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent. It was dark out now, the moons rising overhead. They’d been playing, _er_ , conducting strategic wargaming, for hours. Besides the players, only Spinnerella, Bow, and Adora were still here, Spinnerella watching her wife with loving tolerance, Bow arbitrating rules with patience and tact, and Adora watching in bemused fascination.

_Endgame was rapidly approaching. Horde troops moved up into the Northern Mountains, catching Frosta’s army in a pincer with their Galacian allies. Frosta and her surviving forces fall back to their castle, abandoning most of the Kingdom to Horde occupation. Then Seaworthy falls. Mystacor and Bright Moon are now the only Alliance citadels to remain unoccupied or besieged, and without the territorial, resource, and population base that the Horde has now taken, they can never be more than nuisances. Once Salineas and the Snows had finally been taken, Catra could mop them up at her leisure. Netossa had moved too slowly, too cautiously, and now most of the map was under Horde control. She had five times as many resource tokens, eight times the population cards, her troops held virtually every important—oh._

Catra hissed, her tail bristling. Across the table, Netossa smirked.

“What? What happened?” asked Adora plaintively. 

_Catra saw the trap coming, but there was nothing she could do about. Her armies were spread too thin, stretched too far. She had troops occupying dozens of towns and villages, divisions besieging Salineas and Frosta’s castle, brigades fighting guerillas in the Crimson Waste and the Whispering Woods. She had ignored Bright Moon completely, recognizing it as the trap it was. But that didn’t mean Bright Moon had to ignore_ her _._

“Spinny darling, would you please….?” Spinnerella sighed dramatically, but smiled at her wife and sent a small puff of breeze towards the table, shoving every single unit marker Netossa had left onto the board in a single spot.

_She-Ra, Bow, Glimmer, and every surviving soldier and princess in the Alliance advanced out of the Whispering Woods, only a few tiles from the Fright Zone. And Catra had virtually nothing in a position to intercept them. Her troops were spread out across the world, and they couldn’t return in time. And if the Fright Zone fell, everything else would be for naught. Without the Fright Zone’s logistical support, most of her armies would fall apart within a few turns. Netossa had let her overextend, let her spread out her troops until they were so scattered they could no longer support each other. And then she had concentrated her strongest punch and attacked straight up the middle with no subtlety at all. Brilliant. But risky. If Catra could defeat this attack, the Princess Alliance would have nothing left. She would win. The Horde rushed to meet this final threat. Reserve units were mobilized, a few air-mobile and flyer squadrons managed to make it in time. Thankfully, Catra herself was close enough join the assembled force. All they had to do was slow down She-Ra and her friends. Every turn they delayed her, more and more Horde troops would arrive, until she had a large enough force to crush her. Then the Alliance would fall._

Catra forced a chuckle.

“Well done, well done. You _almost_ had me. But unless your precious She-Ra can destroy all _that_ in a single turn, I think the Horde will manage to turn this around.” Netossa silently showed Catra how many dice she was about to roll, and the ruler of the Horde’s jaw dropped.

“That can’t be right! Bow! Give me your stupid rulebook!” Bow passed over the pamphlet again, and Catra’s eyes widened.

* * *

Catra slouched in the back of her flyer as it screamed across the sky back towards the Fright Zone.

“Ridiculous” she muttered. Her chauffer wisely said nothing.

“Absurd” 

“No relation to reality”

“Absolute nonsense”. In the distance, the steel and concrete towers of her capitol glittered against the skyline. Clouds of steam and smoke drifted from innumerable smokestacks, glints of fire flickering from the forges and furnaces. Anti-aircraft turrets swiveled to track her vehicle as it dove towards her personal landing pad. A double file of Horde troops, her personal bodyguard, had assembled to escort her back to her apartments. She sighed.

“It’s a stupid game anyway”. 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> \- I think Netossa and Catra would be friends. 
> 
> \- Most of the other kingdoms and place names are taken the 1985 show, which I've been mining for content.


End file.
